Got up Saturday morning early to head out to Stony Plain. My son, who usually sleeps in, was also awake. I was hoping to escape before he got up. Packed up all my stuff and reassured David that I'd be back soon (he was pounding on the window demanding to come with me).
The drive was longer than I expected, the race was kind of in the middle of nowhere. The GPS didn't even recognize the roads within 20km of the place. checked in for the race and then got my gear ready. My first ever Sport Class race, I wasn't sure what kind of pace to expect. Lined up at the back of the pack and away we went. Right from the start, I struggled to keep any sort of spin going. Legs felt heavy, my energy level just sucked. I wasn't long until the novice guys were passing me as well. It was going to be a long day.
The course was a great setup, nice twisty singletrack with some roots and logs thrown in for good measure. And the Houffalize climb at the end was killer. I did manage to ride it my first lap, not so much after that.
I just kept going, telling myself that quitting was not an option. My bike wasn't helping things as it was shifting poorly the entire time. I was experiencing the lonliness only the guy at the back of the pack can feel. Dead last. Well, two guys DNFed. But for everyone who finished, I was at the bottom. Sigh. Very disappointed.
The Trans Stony is a 6 hour race held on the same course. Well, almost the same course. This time, we did it in reverse. The weather forecast wasn't great, we hoped the rain would stay away for at least most of it. I chowed down a huge breakfast with the other Deadgoats. I was worried it would be too much.
Got to the venue and checked in. This time, we got to go down the Houfallize, which was awesome! Today, I felt about a million times better than the day before. A decent pace, I felt energized, the bike was shifting well. Lots of friendly encouragement from my teammates the whole way. Craig, Devon, Erik, Pat and Geoff passed me many times. Saw Tori a number of times as well as Dustin.
All in all, a much better result. The last few laps were a little sloppy. The official results posted had me at 8 laps, but I know I did 9 (Tori was shortchanged as well). So with that, I placed about 25th out of 35. Not too bad for an old fat guy. I still have some work to do.
The drive was longer than I expected, the race was kind of in the middle of nowhere. The GPS didn't even recognize the roads within 20km of the place. checked in for the race and then got my gear ready. My first ever Sport Class race, I wasn't sure what kind of pace to expect. Lined up at the back of the pack and away we went. Right from the start, I struggled to keep any sort of spin going. Legs felt heavy, my energy level just sucked. I wasn't long until the novice guys were passing me as well. It was going to be a long day.
The course was a great setup, nice twisty singletrack with some roots and logs thrown in for good measure. And the Houffalize climb at the end was killer. I did manage to ride it my first lap, not so much after that.
I just kept going, telling myself that quitting was not an option. My bike wasn't helping things as it was shifting poorly the entire time. I was experiencing the lonliness only the guy at the back of the pack can feel. Dead last. Well, two guys DNFed. But for everyone who finished, I was at the bottom. Sigh. Very disappointed.
The Trans Stony is a 6 hour race held on the same course. Well, almost the same course. This time, we did it in reverse. The weather forecast wasn't great, we hoped the rain would stay away for at least most of it. I chowed down a huge breakfast with the other Deadgoats. I was worried it would be too much.
Got to the venue and checked in. This time, we got to go down the Houfallize, which was awesome! Today, I felt about a million times better than the day before. A decent pace, I felt energized, the bike was shifting well. Lots of friendly encouragement from my teammates the whole way. Craig, Devon, Erik, Pat and Geoff passed me many times. Saw Tori a number of times as well as Dustin.
All in all, a much better result. The last few laps were a little sloppy. The official results posted had me at 8 laps, but I know I did 9 (Tori was shortchanged as well). So with that, I placed about 25th out of 35. Not too bad for an old fat guy. I still have some work to do.
